


Mistletoe

by Zhie



Series: A Dash of Romance [3]
Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-05
Updated: 2017-02-05
Packaged: 2018-09-22 03:29:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9580697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zhie/pseuds/Zhie
Summary: Glorfindel learns more about the traditions of his new family.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [keiliss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/keiliss/gifts).



“Ada?” Elrohir peeked into the parlor. It was only a few minutes after supper, and his father, uncle, and Glorfindel had retired to the parlor for a glass of cordial and a game of cards. “Remember how you said we could invite people to celebrate yule with us if they were respectful of it and as long as we only brought special people, not just a big bunch of people?”

Elrond gathered up all of the cards that had been thrown back into the center of the table. “What is her name?” he asked as he shuffled the deck several times.

Elrohir twiddled his thumbs. “Well, their names are Maladril and Ninimir—you see, they are sisters, and—“

“Yes, I know them,” confirmed Elrond in order to save his son an in-depth explanation as he dealt the next hand. “I remember when they were born. Twins, if I am recalling correctly,” he said, and he looked up and winked at Erestor, unseen by Elrohir. It took a moment for Glorfindel to catch on as well; rarely in the household was there mention of Elladan and Elrohir being twins. For that matter, he realized that the other two occupants who were born at the same time as a sibling rarely spoke of their own status on that matter.

“Right. Coincidence, huh?” Elrohir dropped his voice. “Alright. Here is the thing. I really like Ninimir. I asked her if she would come to the celebration – I know, I know, I asked her before I asked you, and I know I ought to have asked you first, sir,” he said hastily when Elrond turned to him and raised a brow. “And Ninimir said she would, but she and her sister always go everywhere together. AND, it turns out, that Maladril kind of likes Elladan.” Elrohir gave his father a hopeful look, and Elrond’s other brow went up. “SO, would it be alright if I invited both of them to the celebration?”

“Are you going to tell Elladan?” asked Erestor.

Elrohir lowered his voice so that it was even softer. “Maladril said she will only come if Elladan does not know she is coming. So it has to be a surprise. See, she thinks that Elladan has no idea who she is, but he does,” Elrohir hissed. “But you know how Elladan is.” Elrond nodded slowly, and Glorfindel found he was slightly lost. He wished he knew just what Elladan was so that he could understand. Beside him, Erestor must have picked up on the dilemma, for Glorfindel felt a tap on his knee. When he looked up, he saw Erestor mouth to him, ‘Elladan is shy. Especially around girls.’

Elrohir stiffened up as Elladan suddenly entered the room. The elder brother was drying a glass from supper. “Nana wants to know who would like dessert.”

“What is she offering?” asked Erestor loudly, no doubt drawing the attention to him.

"She said that you can have some of the leftover pie from yesterday, or she has berry compote that should be done in a few minutes if you do not mind waiting."

"None for me," said Elrond politely as he tossed his chips into the center of the table.

"That means I get his, too," decided Erestor. "I will have pie, with the berries on top."

"Oh, that sounds good," said Elrohir from where he was crouched next to his father. "I will have that, too," he said to his brother.

Elladan smirked. "You can get your own. Glorfindel, may I bring you something?"

"Oh... uhm, no I think I am fine right now," he said. 

Elladan nodded and left the room. Elrohir gave his father a pleading look.

Elrond played his hand and glanced at Elrohir. "Go ask your mother."

"She said to ask you," he hissed back. "Please, Ada?"

"I think having them over would be harmless enough," said Erestor. "They seem like proper ladies.”

“Harmless, indeed,” Elrond agreed. “Unless, of course, you plan to hang mistletoe all over the house," he said with a sideways look at his son.

"I would never," replied Elrohir, but his shifty eyed expression more or less stated that he had plans for that which he would put on hold. "Please, Ada?"

"You may invite them for the celebration," said Elrond. "I want you to ask their parents, though," he added as Elrohir gleefully hugged his father. "And I changed my mind on dessert. The berries smell good; see if you can get me a bowl of them with some whipped cream."

"If there is no cream, I will whip it myself," offered Elrohir. He headed out of the room just as Elladan was returning with the slice of pie for Erestor.

"What happened to the berries?" asked Erestor as the plate was set near him. It contained a rather large slice of apple pie, and some extra slices of apple that seemed to have leaked out from another part of the pie at some point.

"Nana made the compote in little individual dishes, so she said she will bring some to you when it is done. She split the rest of the pie between you and Elrohir,” said Elladan. “This way, she can wash the pie tin now."

Another hand was dealt and there was some amount of silence while Erestor ate his pie and Glorfindel tried to recall all of the rules for the game that they were playing. Celebrian brought out the promised compote and joined them at the card table. Soon after, Elladan and Elrohir were leaving for a visit to the Hall of Fire at the main house, with Elrohir declaring he had some sort of errand to tend to while they were there. With Arwen abed, it left the adults of the house alone in the parlor.

"So," said Erestor after he had lost half of his chips and eaten most of the pie, "are you afraid of those two kissing young maidens? Really, Elrond, they are of age," his uncle reminded him. “The girls are, too, if they are who I think they are.”

"I am more concerned with the parents of said young maidens finding out and a scandal resulting from it," said Elrond.

Celebrian smiled. "Elrohir told me about denying him mistletoe. Maybe some of the rest of us would like to see some mistletoe up for the holiday," she said.

Elrond smiled but kept watch on his cards. "You may hang as much mistletoe in our room as you like, my dear."

Erestor chuckled. "Well, I certainly do not intend to confine it to my quarters."

"Oh? Do you also have plans to kiss young maidens this yule?" Elrond was still looking at his cards, but still the smile played upon his lips. 

Glorfindel felt himself blushing, and he kept an eye on the handsome peredhel sitting beside him. Erestor just shook his head at Elrond and rolled his eyes. "My point is that it will not hurt to allow the children to sneak a kiss or two. I am very doubtful that their parents will be upset with you over it. Furthermore, if you really think either of them has never kissed a girl before--"

"They probably have. Again, I am not worried about my boys," said Elrond pointedly. "I am concerned about the ladies they are bringing over."

"They will be perfect gentlemen. You know that. You raised them well." Erestor sighed and looked at Glorfindel for backup. "Tell him his fears are unfounded," he said. 

Glorfindel cleared his throat and shrugged. “I think I am missing something in the conversation. What are we celebrating?”

“The Yuletide celebration is a tradition of Menfolk,” explained Elrond. “It is a time to gather with family and loved ones, to sit and tell tales, and exchange small tokens of friendship and gifts with one another.”

“And the kissing?” Glorfindel dared ask.

“Mistletoe,” explained Celebrian. “It gets hung up on the ceiling. If two people pass under it at the same time, they have to kiss.”

“Oh… we used to do something like that at midsummer,” said Glorfindel. “There were archways on the dancing grounds, and if two people passed beneath them at the same time, they were encouraged to kiss. No one really held anyone to it,” he said quickly, and he could feel his cheeks burning.

“Sounds as if you are no stranger to kissing fair maidens,” teased Celebrian.

Glorfindel blushed brighter. “Uh… well… it has been a while since I kissed anyone, but… I mean, everyone knows how to kiss, right?”

“Is there anyone you would like to invite to the celebration, Glorfindel?” asked Elrond.

Glorfindel glanced over at Erestor briefly, and then looked back at Elrond. “Uh, no, not really. I mean… all of you are going to be there, right?”

Celebrian nodded. “The children as well, and Elrohir’s guests. So if there was a lady you wanted to invite—“

“No. I mean, no thank you,” he said quickly as Elrond set down his cards. The others tossed their hands to the center as Elrond collected all of the chips. “Will you also be there, Eres… Erestor?” Glorfindel finally asked. He was certain he had shown his hand between the tone of his voice and the tint of his cheeks, but he asked it anyhow. He knew by now that Erestor was somewhat detached from the family on a day to day basis. There were lessons at the main house to tend to, councils to advise, and in general, things that just kept Erestor from coming home some nights. He held his breath as he awaited the answer.

“I have never missed a yule celebration,” answered Erestor, gleaming green eyes looking upon Glorfindel with curiosity. “I have no intention of missing it this year, either.”

“V-very good, then,” Glorfindel half-stuttered. “I think I would r-rather spend the time with all of you.” He looked down to see that his bowl was more or less empty, and he jumped at the chance to make an exit. “I should take this to the kitchen,” he said, and hastily exited the room with it.

Erestor watched Glorfindel leave before he looked back to the other occupants of the room. “Well?” he asked in a low voice.

“I think you are right,” was all Celebrian offered. 

Elrond sat back and shuffled the cards. “I think someone here needs to stop worrying about who my sons might be kissing and make plans for himself.” 

Erestor stood up, his chips gone now. “I think I shall procure some mistletoe, and not share it with any of you,” he announced conspiratorially before he left.


End file.
